Ray Tomlinson, Creator Of Email, Dies At 74

The man behind the modern-day email died Saturday. Ray Tomlinson was 74 years old.

The tech guru started developing the first email in 1971. At the time, Tomlinson was working to help build the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, or ARPANET, which was a precursor to the Internet.

Tomlinson is also credited for our modern-day use of the @ symbol. He chose to include it to connect the username with the destination address. He didn’t know it at the time, but his choice on the keyboard was a pretty big deal.